On a rather nice September afternoon and with the home finale looming, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers secured a 6-2 win over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers.
It was the home finale at Atrium Health Ballpark for the 2021 campaign. The team had one of their best arms take to the mound in Matt Thompson. The FutureSox No. 7 prospect in the White Sox organization threw a strong game today, pitching four scoreless frames of two hit baseball. This was Thompson’s first scoreless outing since late July. He cruised through the first two innings without much trouble. The third inning was a sore spot in his outing, as the 2019-draftee relinquished a double and three walks.
Thompson was able to survive the inning with some help from Adam Hackenberg behind the dish, who threw out a runner trying to swipe second base. Hackenberg gunned the Woodpecker down with time to spare, getting a much needed second out in the frame. The former Clemson Tiger is throwing runners out at an astounding 41% clip at the Low-A level. He would go on to take another would-be basestealer off the base paths later in the contest. There will be more to come on his day later.
ZEROS ON THE BOARD
Thompson’s third inning saw him throw over 30 pitches, a mark that normally ends the day for a starter in the White Sox pipeline. To see him back on the mound was a bit of a surprise, but he came back slinging in the fourth frame with a pair of strikeouts. Thompson comfortably sat in the 93-97MPH range on his fastball, attacking early with it to look for his wipe-out off-speed arsenal.
He struggled to execute that off-speed stuff late in at-bats. He missed a couple of times in the dirt with the changeup, which he utilized more than his normal curveball. Aside from four walks on the day, Thompson’s outing was strong. This could bring momentum beyond the final week of 2021 to the 21-year-old.
With the Woodpeckers throwing up zeros through four innings, the Kannapolis offense had to do their part. The aforementioned Hackenberg did just that by knocking in the first run of the contest. A broken-bat ground ball was all he needed to score Caberea Weaver. Weaver, the recent call-down from the Winston-Salem Dash, was a speed demon running the bases. He was in position to score on the Hackenberg single behind a stolen base and wild pitch.
Weaver stole three bases on the day, a trend that ticked up for Kannapolis this week against Fayetteville. The club swiped 14 stolen bases in their last three contests, including today. The uptick in stolen bases is an odd one for Kannapolis as they are a bottom three team in the statistic in the Low-A East. This is change that is much needed with speedy runners like Weaver and James Beard on the club.
MORE RUNS
Hackenberg’s single was followed by a Samil Polanco double that pushed two runs across the board. One of those runs was Hackenberg who scored all the way from first base on the play. With a comfortable three run margin and Thompson’s day finished, it was time for Kannapolis to hand the game to the bullpen.
First out of the bullpen was right-hander Kohl Simas. The 2021 post-draft signee has been lights out all year and has yet to allow a run in his eight appearance for Kannapolis. Unfortunately, that mark was erased behind an inside-the-park home run by the Woodpeckers’ Kobe Kato. It was a line drive to right center. A.J. Gill, playing in right, had a bead on the ball, but his diving attempt was just out of reach. That allowed the ball to roll to the fence and bring in the first run for the Woodpeckers.
Simas was touched up for another run in the sixth innning and returned the bump for the seventh. A crititcal play that saved the day for Kannapolis came in the frame. Fayetteville’s Joey Loperfido roped a fly ball that bounced off the wall in straightaway center. Weaver had a strong play on the hop, and fired a bullet to shortstop Wilber Sanchez. Sanchez was able to complete the relay to Hackenberg, nailing the runner at the plate, keeping the lead at 3-2.
KANNAPOLIS ON A ROLL
There was no stopping Kannapolis after the top of the seventh. Hackenberg knocked in another run in the bottom of the frame. On the day, the catcher went two-for-four with two runs batted in and two thrown out runners. Jayson Gonzalez, the player replacing Harvin Mendoza at first base, came through with a RBI-double of his own. Sanchez completed the scoring with a sac fly to get the score to the 6-2 final. The shortstop’s effort followed an earlier triple, making a strong multi-hit contest for the Venezuelan.
Theo Denlinger and Zach Cable both threw a pair of clean frames to keep Fayetteville in check late. Bryan Ramos had a quiet multi-hit performance, scoring twice. Chase Krogman hit safely in his fifth straight contest. It was a fun to see the offense click throughout the entire contest, rather than in small spurts. When they play loose, they can really put it on the opposition.
It was a strong way to close out their maiden campaign at their new stadium. The Cannon Ballers will be heading on the road to face the Columbia Fireflies in their final series of 2021.
Photo credit: Michael Guariglia/FutureSox
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